


A Web of Lies

by XxXxDarkVampirexXxX



Category: Ghost Hunt
Genre: Eventual Romance, Eventual smut-probably, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-28
Updated: 2017-11-02
Packaged: 2018-11-19 23:15:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 14,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11323734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XxXxDarkVampirexXxX/pseuds/XxXxDarkVampirexXxX
Summary: SPR always helps others deal with the paranormal. That's their job, after all. But what do they do when their client is Mai? Mai who works with them. Mai who loves them. Mai who was nearly killed in her own home. What exactly is she dealing with? Will the team be able to put their personal feelings aside to help her before the the evil entity can finally get to her...?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yo! If this seems somewhat familiar to you, it's likely because you've seen in on FFN. I've been meaning to post my old stuff here too, but never got around to it. I have nine chapters up over there, but decided to edit them before posting them here, so they won't be up immediately. I'll try to get the rest of them up as soon as I can!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt or any of its characters...

It was a bright, sunny August afternoon like any other, and the day couldn't have been any better. Despite this, however, it didn't take a genius to notice that something was wrong with eighteen year old Taniyama Mai.

She had been behaving strangely for a while now, coming in to work late, with bags under her eyes, looking as if she hadn't slept in days. On top of that, she always appeared to have odd injuries, that she kept explaining away as her own clumsiness.

Everyone knew something was wrong, but when they brought it up with her, she adamantly denied it. Though they didn't yet realize it, they were about to find out just what had been going on in Mai's already bizarre life...

"Mai! Tea!"

The girl sighed and rolled her eyes, not at all surprised by the impolite demand. She had been expecting it, actually. Stretching, she rose to her feet, and quietly walked over to the small kitchen area, getting to work on preparing her boss' addiction (something that would have sounded strange if you didn't already know it was tea).

While she waited for the water to heat properly, she made some coffee for Lin, aware that was what he had been in the mood for recently. She couldn't blame him-she liked coffee as much as she did tea.

Once everything was ready, she placed her drink on her desk, headed to Lin's office to give him his own, then walked over to the boss man's boss cave of bossiness...

Naru, seated behind his large, wooden desk, glanced up from his notes when his young assistant entered the room, and he immediately noticed that she had, once again, not gotten much sleep the night before. Those circles under her eyes were beginning to get bigger, and darker, and he didn't like it.

Naru's eyes narrowed when he saw what looked like a bruise on the girl's arm. She was wearing a long sleeved shirt, despite the heat, but it seemed she had rolled up her sleeves, having forgotten about the bruise.

Mai didn't seem to notice where her boss' thoughts were going, and simply placed his teacup on his desk. Not bothering to wait for the thanks she was never going to get, she had only just turned to leave, when Naru suddenly got to his feet.

The girl's pretty brown eyes widened in surprise when she caught sight of the intensity in Naru's expression, but neither of them said a word. Instead, Naru walked around his desk, moving towards her, causing her to take an uncertain step back.

"Naru, what're you-ah!" she broke off with a gasp.

Jaw clenched, Naru grabbed her wrist, fully pushing her sleeve up out of the way, properly exposing the dark mark on her left forearm. "What is this?" he questioned, anger already rising. "How did this happen?"

Mai had not been acting like herself for months now, not from what he had heard recently, at least. He and Lin had only returned from England a couple of weeks ago, but according to the others, Mai had begun behaving in this odd manner at least half a year prior to their return to Japan. Apparently, that was also when the bags and injuries had begun appearing, and now it was time to find out why. Naru wasn't going to allow Mai to leave this room until he had his answers.

"What the hell is going on here, Mai?" he demanded none too gently. When all she did was snatch her arm away from him, he crossed his own over his chest, in a manner that very clearly stated that he was not about to move anytime soon.

Mai wasn't an idiot. She was fully aware of Naru's stubbornness, and knew that if she didn't start explaining things, he wasn't going to leave her alone. She released a long, drawn out sigh. As much as she didn't want to do this, she knew she didn't have much of a choice. Not really.

Sighing again, she moved around the desk, and all but collapsed in Naru's large, comfortable chair. When she saw him raise a brow in question, she sighed a third time. "If you really want me to explain all this, I need to sit, and I don't really care whose chair this is."

"...Very well," Naru conceded, deciding not to argue. Since Mai had stolen his chair, he took a seat on the corner of his polished desk. "Tell me, Mai. What's been going on here?" He took out his notebook and a pen, prepared to take notes, since Lin wasn't here to do it himself. Naru knew this was paranormal. It had to be.

Mai gave yet another sigh, and closed her eyes, collecting both her thoughts, and her courage. "Everything started around six months after you and Lin-san left for England with Gene's body," she began in a tone she was fighting to keep calm. "Ayako owned this house, that had been sitting empty for a couple of months, since the friends she had rented it to moved out."

Naru frowned slightly, wondering what this had to do with anything. "Why did Matsuzaki-san rent it in the first place? And why did she not return after?"

"She found a bigger place," Mai replied, "closer to the hospital she works at. A friend of hers had recently gotten married, and the couple needed a place to stay. As a favour, she rented it to them cheaper than anything else they would find of that size. But then her friend got pregnant, and figured the house wasn't big enough for kids, so they moved out," Mai explained.

"I see. ...And what does this have to do with your situation?" He was surprised when the girl didn't snap at him for that, and just continued calmly.

"At the time, there were a few break ins at my apartment complex, and everyone was getting kind of worried about me, since I was alone."

Naru had a feeling he knew where this was going. "I assume they no longer wished for you to live there?"

The brown haired girl nodded. "Un. Ayako remembered that house, which was empty at that point, and decided it would be better if I lived there instead. Considering our relationship, I would be living there as a favour, so she didn't want to even charge me for it, which was really helpful." She sighed, then went on. "They didn't really want me living alone, but I sort of insisted on it, because it's something I'm too used to. So I moved into that house about...seven months ago." She paused again, this time in hesitation, and didn't continue until Naru took a sip of his tea.

"Everything was-was fine at first," she said slowly. "It took me a little while to get used to the place-the house, the neighbourhood, the new walk to school, the store, you know, the usual. It just felt like a normal house. It didn't feel...haunted or anything like that. I never saw anything, never heard anything, never sensed anything weird, nothing at all."

Naru frowned again as he listened. "I assume that all changed at some point?" His curiosity was beginning to grow. It had to be bad if Mai was suffering like this. She had abilities, had been taught how to defend herself as well. But if she _had_ been using those defences, then it was clear they certainly hadn't been working all too well, which was actually rather worrying.

Slowly, Mai shook her head. "It was so...sudden," she replied, trying to find the right words. "I just... I woke up early one morning, a couple of hours before my alarm was supposed to go off, and I was... I don't know why, but I was just really scared."

"You weren't having a nightmare before you woke?"

"I don't think so. This fear, and that fear, feel completely different. I can tell the difference."

Naru wasn't quite so sure, but inclined his head anyway. "What did you do then?"

"I left the house," Mai explained, "and went over to Bou-san's-he lives the closest. It was obvious that he was surprised to see me there at like, four in the morning, but I just made up some random excuse. I know he didn't really believe it, but he didn't question me and let me stay with him."

And why that statement had Naru's body burning, he didn't know or understand. But Mai didn't notice and went on after having paused in thought.

"I went back home after school that day, and the place just felt so different. It felt so dark and...heavy."

"Oppressive?"

"Un. That's how it felt-feels inside." The girl sighed again, brushing hair out of her eyes. "I've never seen whatever is in the house," she said slowly. "I can only sense that it's there, maybe because of how dark it is. I always feel like I'm being watched, and sometimes it feels like it's touching me, like when I'm in the bath or changing."

Naru's eyes narrowed at those words, and his jaw tightened, anger rising at the thought of Mai being touched by something like that, something dark and filthy. He said nothing though, not trusting himself to speak, allowing his young assistant to continue. Mai didn't notice the way Naru's hand shook as he went on taking notes.

"After a while," she said, "the injuries started happening. They weren't really bothersome at first, just small cuts and bruises. I actually thought I was doing them to myself by accident, until they started getting worse." She glanced down at her arm, and at the large, hand shaped bruise there. "This one isn't actually all that bad, compared to usual."

Naru's eyes narrowed just slightly. "How did this one occur?" he inquired, wondering why Mai seemed so... nonchalant about all this. She was too calm, in his opinion, which was actually rather surprising, considering how she used to react before he had left for England. It seemed the girl had changed more than he had realized.

"I think it grabbed me while I was in the shower yesterday morning," Mai replied with a shrug. "It isn't the first time either. Sure it bruised, but it'll heal eventually, like bruises do. Or are supposed to, at least."

Naru couldn't help but stare for a moment. The old Mai would have been ranting about how she wouldn't be able to wear the clothes she wanted thanks to the injury on her arm. The new Mai didn't seem to care at all. This casual attitude of hers... "What is the worst, most harmful thing this...entity has done to you?"

"That would depend," replied Mai without even pausing to think about it. "Which do you consider worse? Drowning or being shoved down a flight of stairs? Personally, I say drowning's worse."

Once again, all Naru could do was stare. Did Mai just say what he thought she said? She had nearly died in her home _twice_? Naru didn't know what was going on in the house Mai was living in right now, but he didn't like it at all. It was dangerous and, well, yeah, that was all, really. _If Mai stays in that house for much longer, she may actually die_.

Mai looked up from her lap when the phone on her desk in the lounge began to ring. "Gotta go, boss. Phone's ringing." She didn't even wait for Naru's response before getting to her feet and immediately leaving his office.

Naru watched her go in silence, eyes narrowed, thoughts swirling through his mind. _The house belonged to Matsuzaki-san... Why the fuck would she put Mai in a haunted house? Especially if the activity is so bad that Mai has only just managed to avoid death_? Moving around his desk, Naru slid into his chair with a grimace, and closed his eyes, sighing.

What were they going to do? ...Well that wasn't that hard a question. The answer was rather obvious, after all. The more difficult question here was, were they going to be able to help Mai...?


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SPR always helps others deal with the paranormal. That's their job, after all. But what do they do when their client is Mai? Mai who works with them. Mai who loves them. Mai who was nearly killed in her own home. What exactly is she dealing with? Will the team be able to put their personal feelings aside to help her before the the evil entity can finally get to her...?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! Apologies for the wait. As I said, I'm editing the versions I have on FFN before posting them here too, and I'm pretty bad at actually doing that. Anyway, thank you to all readers so far!

A couple of hours had passed before Mai found herself in the kitchenette again, once more making tea for Naru. She was actually a little surprised that he hadn't called for it earlier, but hey, she wasn't complaining, since she'd been able to get some work done without being disturbed by his...calls.

It was nearing the end of her shift, and the girl was beginning to feel dread spread through her body. She was going to have to go home soon. The whole point of her moving out of her apartment complex, and into Ayako's old house, was so that she'd be safe. But instead of safety, Mai had only found herself in more danger than she had ever been in previously.

Mai  _really_  didn't want to go home, but it wasn't like there was anywhere else she could go. She had no family who she could stay with, and both Keiko and Michiru couldn't accommodate her for more than a couple days. She knew she always had the option to stay with Ayako, or John, or even Yasuhara, but then she would have to explain what was going on and why she couldn't remain at her own house. And while Bou-san would welcome her without question, she felt bad about imposing on him so often.

Sure, Naru knew the truth of what was going on, but she certainly wasn't about to ask him if she could stay at his place. Not after the way he had rejected her that way last year. Not when, for a reason unfathomable even to herself, she still had feelings for him. Not when she dreamed about him so many nights.

No way, there was absolutely no chance in hell that she was going to ask him anything of the sort. None whatsoever.

"Mai."

_Shit_. "Yes, Naru?" Mai turned around to face her boss, who was standing the the 'doorway' to the kitchen area. He looked quite serious too, so she wondered what he was thinking. Naru was always thinking, after all.

"I want you to stay with me tonight."

Mai blinked, caught off guard by the words. "What...?"

Naru took a step closer, expression hardening slightly. "I don't want you alone in that house. Not until we check it out for ourselves. And  _that_  we will be doing tomorrow. I have already confirmed it with the rest."

Mai blinked again. She knew what Naru was saying, of course, but for some reason, she couldn't exactly understand it. The things she had been going through the past six months or so had messed with her mind. Having to hide it all from her friends had made her feel so alone, had made her feel, to a point, that she shouldn't expect help from anyone. And yet...

Naru approached Mai suddenly, quickly, and enveloped her into his arms. "Stay with me tonight, Mai," he repeated. "Please..."

Yet again, Mai blinked. Naru was...hugging her? Had he...had he ever done that before? She hesitated, mind working slow to process what was happening, and then finally, right when she was about to respond to the embrace, the kettle went off, forcing Naru to relinquish his hold on her. Silently, the girl completed the tea, then, after she had handed it to her boss, answered him. "Alright, Naru, I'll stay with you for tonight..." And with that, without even looking at him, she turned and walked away.

Naru stared after her, half relieved, half confused, unsure of what to do. Why exactly had he asked her to stay with him that night? Was he crazy? He was supposed to have told her to stay with the monk, not him! And where on earth had that embrace come from? Bloody buggering hell...

* * *

Once darkness had fallen, Mai had ended up at Naru and Lin's home. She had known that Lin had been acting as Naru's guardian, but for some reason, hadn't known that the two actually lived together. So much for putting two and two together. The apartment was small too-only two bedrooms and a single bathroom. Mai had expected their place to be a lot bigger than it actually was...

"I'll sleep in the living room," Naru informed her after a brief tour, "so you may rest in my room."  _Why do you want her in your room? Isn't that going to make things much harder for you? Knowing she's asleep in your bed?_  "Come," he spoke, ignoring the voice in his mind that suspiciously sounded a whole lot like his twin brother. Instead, he led her over to the bedroom, gesturing at the bathroom they passed on the way. "You may as well shower before you sleep. You won't have time in the morning."

Mai hesitated. "I don't have anything to change in to." And after the heat of the day, she certainly had no desire to sleep in the same clothes she was currently wearing.

"Ah..." Running a hand through his hair in an uncharacteristically distracted manner, Naru went over to his closest, grabbed one of his shirts, and tossed it over at her. "That should suffice for the night, correct?"

Trying to force back a blush at the thought of wearing nothing but one of Naru's shirts, Mai nodded hurriedly, and retreated into the bathroom, where she turned on the shower.

As soon as he heard the water turn on, and with no one in the room to see him, Naru collapsed onto his bed with a sigh. He had done it again. Now he was going to not only think about Mai sleeping in his bed, but sleeping in his bed wearing his shirt too.  _I have to stop doing this. Absolutely have to stop doing this, before it drives me mad_...

After getting out of the shower and changing, Mai returned to Naru's room, which was now empty. She closed the door, padded over to the large black bed, and sat down on the edge. She looked down at herself, at the shirt she was wearing. It was a simple black button down, like the one Naru always wore.

Lying down, she turned off the bedside lamp. A second later, she closed her eyes tight. All she could smell was Naru. He was everywhere! It had to be expected, since this was his room, his bed, his clothes... Oh gods... She turned onto her front and nuzzled her face into the pillow, an involuntary smile creeping onto her face.

* * *

_"Mai."_

_The girl opened her eyes, and realized that she couldn't see anything. Still, she immediately knew where she was, and who had just called her name. Sitting up, she looked round and smiled, genuinely happy. "Gene! Long time no see."_

_Eugene smiled as well, and extended a hand. "Yeah. I hope you're well?"_

_Taking his hand, Mai was pulled to her feet. "As well as I can be," she replied, smile fading somewhat._

_Gene's smile saddened slightly. "I'm sorry about what you've been going through. I can't explain why, but while I couldn't help you before, I can now."_

_Mai frowned. "What do you mean?" she asked curiously. Part of her was certainly wondering why he hadn't been able to help her earlier, but since he had said he couldn't explain, she figured it was best to just not ask, and accept whatever help he could offer her now. Anything had to be better than nothing._

_"Come on." Tightening his hold on her hand, Gene led Mai over to what appeared to be a faint light in the distance._

_As they walked, the little light became bigger and bigger, and brighter and brighter, until Mai had to bring up her free hand to shield her eyes from the harsh glare. They walked through what looked like a doorway, and as the light dimmed, Mai was surprised to find herself standing in her living room. The odd thing was, it didn't look like her living room. The room itself was the same, but it was decorated very differently._

_She looked up at her companion, clearly confused. Gene however, held a finger up to his lips, then pointed over at the hallway that led over to the front door. Mai looked over now as well, wondering what it was that Gene wanted her to see. Someone was walking over. More than one person. A woman, followed by a man, followed by...Ayako?_

_Mai looked up at Gene again, but he was still looking at Ayako and the couple she was with intently, so Mai also continued to watch. Were these the people Ayako had rented the house before her? The married couple that had moved out when their baby was born? Despite no doubt being aware of her questions, Gene still said nothing._

_"Why don't you two take a look around," said Ayako with a smile. "See if it's to your taste. It's kind of small, but..."_

_"Small?" Mai muttered, looking incredulous. "A whole_  group  _of people can live in that house!"_

_"Well, that's Matsuzaki-san for you," Gene replied with a grin._

_The two tried to refocus on the scene before them, but something strange began to happen. Everything started getting blurry. The image of the room they were in, the image of the other three in that room, began to waver, shimmer. It flickered in and out of existence, and then it was gone, fading back into the nothingness it had come from._

_This surprised not only Mai, but Gene too. This had never happened before, and Eugene didn't understand what was going on. He looked around, trying to see something that Mai couldn't, a confused frown on his face._

_Then, after a couple of minutes of this, he turned back to Mai. "Time to go, Mai. I meant to show you more, but it looks like that'll have to wait until later. I'll bring you back here when I figure out what's going on."_

_Slowly, Mai nodded, having a feeling her dead friend was more worried than he was letting on. She wasn't exactly pleased, but what could she do? It wasn't as if Gene hadn't shown her everything on purpose. "Alright" she said instead, keeping her tone neutral. "See you." And closing her eyes, she allowed herself to float up and away into that never ending blackness..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments? Kudos?


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SPR always helps others deal with the paranormal. That's their job, after all. But what do they do when their client is Mai? Mai who works with them. Mai who loves them. Mai who was nearly killed in her own home. What exactly is she dealing with? Will the team be able to put their personal feelings aside to help her before the the evil entity can finally get to her...?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! Sorry about the wait! Turns out I'm really shit at editing already existing chapters on a timely basis. However, thanks to a very interesting crime podcast, I've been able to edit this chapter, along with the next two, so those should be up sooner rather than later. Well, hopefully. And then that'll just leave chapters six, seven, eight, and nine to edit, before I catch up and can actually continue writing this thing. Anyway, thank you to all readers so far!

Mai woke abruptly, with a jolt that usually accompanied her leaving the Astral Plane. She simply remained where she was for a moment, attempting to recall the details of the 'dream' she had just had. And it wasn't until she was positive she remembered everything, that she got out of bed and left the bedroom, quietly backtracking to where she knew the small living room was. She spotted Naru immediately. He was fast asleep on the largest couch.

Slowly, Mai approached him, and once she was standing over him, sighed softly. She was reluctant to disturb him, especially when he looked so calm and peaceful, but something was telling her that this was something she needed to do now-that Naru needed to know this now.

Carefully, she reached down to touch his shoulder, not wanting to call out his name and freak him out or something. Besides, Naru could be a very heavy sleeper at times, and even screaming at him wouldn't wake him up. Mai didn't really want to do that, because she knew Lin had insomnia, and he didn't get much sleep in the first place. Why risk waking up that poor guy?

Surprisingly, Naru woke immediately at her touch. He regarded her for a moment, blue eyes full of sleep, seemingly unaware of what exactly he was seeing. Then his eyes cleared, and he blinked and sat up. "Mai, what are you doing in here?" he questioned, rubbing a hand over his face as he moved.

After hesitating for half a second, she sat down next to him, and told him about the dream she had a few minutes ago. She still didn't know why she had been compelled to do this right now, but didn't mention it. But while she spoke, her boss said nothing. He listened to her in pure silence, blue eyes locked in her face.

Trying to ignore the fluttering in her belly, Mai tried her best to remember every single little thing about the dream. Though Naru wasn't questioning her right now, who knew what he would say later on, once he was more awake...and had had some tea.

"I see," was all Naru said when she finished speaking. Instead of elaborating, he continued to stare at her.

Mai blinked once, twice, thrice. "Er, Naru?"

"Hmm?" he voiced rather absently.

"Um, why are you staring at me like that?"

Naru blinked and looked away quickly, almost as if he had just realized what it was that he was doing. Mai wasn't sure if it was because of the lack of proper lighting, but she could have swore she saw a faint...pinkness on his cheeks.

Clearing his throat, Naru spoke. "Gene claimed he didn't know what was going on?"

Mai shook her head. "No, he seemed to be really surprised, actually. He told me he would bring me back when he figured out what happened."

Pulling his pondering stance as he brought his fingers up to his chin, the young man nodded slowly. "I suppose we'll simply have to wait for that, then." He paused in thought. "We'll need to have a discussion with Matsuzaki-san about that house of hers."

"Yeah..." The silence that descended was rather awkward for Mai. She didn't think Naru noticed it, but she was wrong.

Naru remained silent, seemingly in thought. He  _had_  been listening to Mai, but it hadn't taken him too long to wake up enough to notice that Mai was wearing his shirt.  _His shirt_! He had felt something come over him then. Felt an urge he couldn't exactly explain. He just wanted to push her down onto the couch, and- He rubbed his hands over his face, willing for control to return. "Just...try and go back to sleep, Mai," he said after a long pause. "We'll deal with everything in the morning, so just..."

Slightly confused, and perhaps a tad disappointed, though she didn't understand why, Mai nodded. "Right, kay... Er, 'night, Naru." Getting to her feet, Mai returned to the bedroom she had been sleeping in.

Once she was back in bed, Mai let out a deep sigh. For some reason, that had been so much more awkward than usual. Maybe it was because she was in his house and had woken him up? Maybe it was because she was wearing his shirt? Maybe it was all of those and more? Mai didn't really know.

Feeling so very tired, it didn't take the girl long to fall back asleep, despite the many thoughts running through her mind.

Back in the living room, Naru, unlike his young assistant, did not go back to sleep. Now that Mai was no longer in close proximity to him, Naru was actually able to think straight, without any...distractions.

The dream Mai had recounted to him-what had happened in it, was very strange indeed. The fact that Gene was unsure of what had taken place, made it all the more strange. Nothing like this had ever occurred before, as far as he knew. So why now? Was the evil, yes, it had to be evil, entity somehow involved in this?

Naru found that he didn't understand, which was bizarre in itself. Something seemed...off, but he wasn't sure what or why. Unaware Mai had felt the same way, he suddenly got the feeling that he needed to tell Lin about all this immediately, rather than in the morning. Sighing, he went to do just that...

* * *

The next morning, Mai was woken by Lin. She was a little surprised by that, having expected Naru to be the one to wake her up, but she did as told and slid out of bed. After freshening up a little, she met up with the Chinese man in the living room. Naru wasn't there.

"Noll is in the other room," Lin spoke abruptly. "He is on the phone with Matsuzaki-san. There are certain things that must be clarified, and she is the only one who is able to answer those questions."

Mai simply nodded, unsure of how Lin knew that she had been wondering where Naru was. ...Like it wasn't obvious or anything. Lin seemed to be thinking the same thing, for he smiled slightly, though the girl didn't notice.

"Come," he said after a moment. "You should eat. We will be leaving the moment we can."

Mai nodded again, and followed the man into the small dining room, where a couple of plates had already been laid out. She sat down on the seat Lin pulled out for her, and nodded a third time when he told her that once off the phone, Naru would be joining her. Lin walked off then, presumably to finish preparations, leaving the girl alone.

Mai began to eat slowly, completely lost in thought. When she had spoken to Naru last night, he hadn't seemed all too concerned with what she had told him, but the fact that it was practically the break of dawn, and he was already on the phone, questioning Ayako, said otherwise.

Though she was pleased that he seemed to be taking this seriously, Mai was also beginning to get worried. Would they really be able to get rid of whatever it was that was in her home? Was anything bad going to happen before they managed to do so?

Someone always ended up getting hurt on their cases, and it wasn't always her...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments? Kudos?


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SPR always helps others deal with the paranormal. That's their job, after all. But what do they do when their client is Mai? Mai who works with them. Mai who loves them. Mai who was nearly killed in her own home. What exactly is she dealing with? Will the team be able to put their personal feelings aside to help her before the the evil entity can finally get to her...?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! This chapter isn't quite as long as I wanted it to be, but it seemed like a good place to cut off. I've got a killer migraine too, so please forgive any typos you might come across. Thank you to all readers so far!

Mai sat there alone at the table for another ten minutes or so, before Naru finally joined her, taking a seat across her. He looked as if he hadn't slept at all, something that was quite normal for him, but which seemed much worse today. He said nothing at first, and just ate in silence, Mai noting that he was probably pretty hungry.

The silence lasted quite a while, with Mai not sure what to say. Even though he was eating, Naru appeared to be lost in thought, and Mai didn't really feel like interrupting that thought process, not that she'd really had much of a problem with doing it before or anything...

It wasn't until they had both cleared their plates, that Naru began to speak, surprising Mai when he broke the heavy silence himself. "I want you to change back into what you were wearing yesterday. We'll be leaving once Lin and I finish preparing." He waited for her nod before getting up, grabbing both their plates, and heading into the kitchen.

Mai watched him go before she too got up. Returning to Naru's room, she quickly changed, and the moment she had, there was a knock on the door, and Naru's voice sounded from the other side.

"What's taking you so long? We have to go."

The girl huffed. "It has  _not_  been that long!" she retorted. Yep, Naru was perfectly fine. He must have had some tea with his breakfast. Somewhat satisfied, she opened the door, still holding onto the dark shirt. "I'm ready, but where should I leave this?"

"Let me." Naru entered the room and took the shirt, glancing over his shoulder at her. "Finish what else you need to, and meet us by the door."

"Sure thing." Absently wondering how her boss had been able to get dressed before her, when she was the one who had been in his room, she stopped by the bathroom to run her fingers through her hair in an attempt to tame it, and then made her way over to the front door.

Lin and Naru, unsurprisingly, were already there, clearly waiting for her. Nodding at her, the three left the apartment, Lin locking the door behind them. They headed out to the van, piled in, and drove off.

Both Lin and Mai could see that Naru appeared to have fallen into thought again, and so, no one spoke...

Eventually, they reached the rather large house, that Ayako insisted was small. The three got out of can, and saw that Ayako, Bou-san, John, and Yasuhara were already there waiting for them.

Naru and Lin approached them, but Mai remained where she was, standing just outside the van, staring at the house. She didn't want to go inside. She  _really_  didn't want to. But she knew she didn't have much of a choice. Reluctantly though it was, she too made her way over to the rest of the group.

The monk was the first to greet her, giving her his usual tight bear hug, that failed to conceal his concern. The miko, priest, and bespectacled teen followed his lead, and Mai greeted them too.

Unable to stall any longer, the group entered the empty house, and John surprised everyone by abruptly stopping in the doorway. His kind face looked troubled, and he slowly gazed around the deserted hallway. Almost automatically, one of his hands came up to grip the rosary he always wore around his neck.

"John, what's wrong?" Bou-san asked curiously, having been the first to notice this odd behaviour.

The priest however, simply shook his head. "There is something wrong with this house," he said quietly, still looking around. Slowly, he walked further down the hall, following those who were in front of him. They all came to a stop in what looked like a living room. "There is something very bad in here."

A few pairs of eyes widened in surprise, while others narrowed. Everyone else now looked around too, as if trying to see whatever it was that John was seeing or feeling.

Without being told, Lin's Shiki dispersed around the house, attempting to gather spiritual information, something they always did on a new case.

Mai shivered as the intense oppressiveness of the house closed around her. Bou-san noticed this, and carefully brought the girl close to his side, his brown eyes locked on Naru, who seemed to be looking around cautiously.

Yasuhara, who didn't feel much of anything, just waited silently, fully aware that that was what he needed to do at the moment. And Ayako? Well, she just looked alarmed.

"How could I have left you here like this!?" questioned the woman. But they all could tell that it was more a rhetorical question, no matter how hysterical it sounded.

"Matsuzaki-san," John interrupted, quickly getting everyone's attention. "Did it ever feel the same way in here when you still lived here yourself?" he asked curiously, before Naru could even open his mouth.

Ayako slowly shook her head, fighting back tears at Mai's situation. "Never. It was a house. A nice, normal house. There are some spirits in the trees around, mainly in the backyard, but this, inside, it-it never-" she broke off with a dry sob.

"Calm down, Ayako, I'm fine, aren't I?" Mai tried to assure, not wanting the woman to cry on her behalf like that. She knew that there was something here, had known for ages now, but finally had confirmation. It wasn't often that John reacted in such a manner, after all.

It was now, that everyone turned to Naru, waiting for him to speak. He was quiet for another moment, before finally beginning.

"Mai, do you have a room we can use as our Base?"

Gently pulling away from Bou-san, Mai nodded. "Yeah, this way." She led them to a large room on the ground floor. It was crammed with textbooks, notebooks, papers, and pens. "Sorry, I'll just..." she looked around, "shove these into a corner somewhere." She did so, then turned to focus on her boss, like the rest.

Naru wasted no more time, and ordered everyone except Lin, to grab the equipment from the van and bring everything into their new Base. He and his guardian were going to set it all up. Perhaps because of how drastic the situation was, nobody complained, not even Ayako, who usually always grumbled about breaking her nails carrying those heavy boxes...

While waiting for them all to return, guardian and ward stood in the Base alone, both looking this way and that. Neither said anything at first, both of them attempting to regain their bearings, and spiritual comfort. And Naru had only just opened his mouth to speak, when-

BANG!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments? Kudos?


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SPR always helps others deal with the paranormal. That's their job, after all. But what do they do when their client is Mai? Mai who works with them. Mai who loves them. Mai who was nearly killed in her own home. What exactly is she dealing with? Will the team be able to put their personal feelings aside to help her before the the evil entity can finally get to her...?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! Editing seems to be going well. I have chapters six and seven edited as well, and am working on eight now. After that I just have to edit chapter nine, and then this can continue properly. So, future readers, if you see chapter ten, then you don't have to worry about this AN. Thank you to all readers so far!

Both Naru and Lin started, staring up at the ceiling, where the sound had come from. They exchanged a glance and Lin nodded curtly, understanding what wasn't being said. He left the room, and quickly headed up the stairs to the second floor of this large, western style house.

He was trying to locate what had created the loud banging sound, if there was even anything to be found. But he did find something, and that something surprised him greatly.

In one of the bedrooms, the one directly above the Base, in fact, there was a great amount of glass littering the otherwise clean floor.

Lin entered the room cautiously, and looked around. There was no one there. He had heard no footsteps, nor had he seen anyone as he had approached the room. Kneeling down, the man examined the broken glass. Picking up a larger shard, he brought it up to his face, and was greeted by his own reflection. A mirror.

Lowering the broken mirror shard, he looked up again, and saw a void in the wall. Getting to his feet, he neared the wall to examine it, and his eyes narrowed in contemplation.

It was rather large, judging by the light gathering of dust on the wall. By the amount of glass sitting on the floor, and the size of the void, Lin was sure that the mirror-a large one at that, had been placed there against the wall.

There was no hook, or hinge, so he assumed the mirror had been leaning against the wall. It seemed as if it had been violently dropped, either from a good height, or with great force.

Naturally, he couldn't be sure. He would ask Mai about it, just in case he was wrong. It was possible, of course, that the mirror had already been broken when they had arrived in the house, and that the sound he and Noll had heard, had been caused by something else entirely.

Nodding to himself, Lin left the room and checked the rest of the floor, just to make sure there was nothing else amiss up here. There wasn't.

The man descended the stairs, returning to the main floor, running into the others, who were on their way back to the Base, all of them carrying boxes of equipment. Mai, because of her injured arm, looked to be struggling, so he reached down, and took the large box from her, indicating that she walk with him.

"Lin-san?" Mai voiced, confused. "Is something wrong?"

"Upstairs, above our current Base, there is a room painted black," Lin spoke without preamble. "In this room, there are two large mirrors. Am I correct?"

Mai blinked. "Er, yeah."

"Were either of those mirrors broken, or even cracked?"

The girl blinked again, then shook her head. "No, they were perfectly fine, definitely not even cracked. I would've noticed for sure."

"And were these mirrors hanging, or simply leaning against the wall?"

"The latter," Mai replied, her confusion growing. "They were like that when I moved in, and they were too heavy for me to lift and position alone, so I just left them there, because I didn't want to risk breaking them."

Lin inclined his head. "Have these mirrors ever fallen over before?"

"Un. Sometimes, they sort of slide down the wall if they're nudged or hit hard enough, since they're on an angle and everything."

"...I see." Lin paused, glanced around, and realized that the two of them had stopped in the middle of the hallway. The others were, no doubt, waiting for them in the Base. "Come, let us return."

Mai nodded, still feeling rather confused, and together, she and the tall man headed back to the Base. Everyone other than Naru and Bou-san were sitting, while those two worked on setting the monitors up. Naru* had probably asked the monk to help him, as Lin had left to investigate the unexplained sound.

"Lin, you're back. Did you find anything?"

Nodding once, Lin explained about the mirror. He caught the look of surprise on Mai's face while he spoke, and he knew that she was making the connection to the questions she had been asked just moments ago.

Once Lin was finished speaking, Naru brought his fingers up to his chin, a thoughtful frown on his face. "It's unfortunate that we were unable to document the sound," he said softly, almost absently. "The two of us hearing it is one thing, but actually having the sound on audio is another matter altogether."

"Oh!" exclaimed Mai suddenly. "Maybe we did catch it!"

Everyone looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean?" asked the monk and miko in unison.

"Hang on, I'll be right back!"

Mai was half way to the door, when Naru called out to her. "Don't go alone, Mai."

"Let me," said the monk, quickly getting to his feet, deciding to take the initiative.

Exchanging a nod with Mai, the two of them left the Base, and the girl lead him up the stairs and down the hall. They entered a large room, with lavender coloured walls. Mai absently explained that this was her bedroom, and went straight to the night table beside her bed.

Momentarily ignoring Bou-san, who was looking around curiously, she leaned down slightly and carefully, not touching a thing. "Aha! Still on."

"What's still on?" asked the man, peering over her shoulder as his young friend straightened up.

"The recorder," explained Mai. She picked it up and examined it. "Perfect timing, too. The battery looks like it's about to die."

"Nice. Right then, let's head back down. Oh, I want to see that broken mirror though."

Nodding, Mai led him out of her bedroom, and into the room that Lin claimed held the broken mirror. "Wow. That's-that's a lot of glass."

"Careful," muttered the monk, his own eyes narrowed.

The two of them stood in the doorway for a moment, simply staring at the glass littered floor. Bou-san took in the void on the wall, but not only that, he noticed that there was another mirror, placed directly opposite the void. That, along with the black coloured walls, and the multiple candles lining the shelves, told the man that there was something very off about this room. He just didn't know what that might be.

"Can we go back?" asked Mai suddenly, sounding rather meek.

Bou-san looked over at her, and saw that Mai was still standing behind him in the doorway, arms wrapped around her middle. She looked pale, and her usually pretty brown eyes looked both too large, and too dark. Approaching her, the man quickly gathered her into his arms.

"Yeah, c'mon, let's go, sweetheart." He was too concerned about the girl to remain up here any longer.

They left immediately, returning to the Base, where Mai silently handed Lin the recorder. Not stopping in his path, Bou-san didn't relinquish his brotherly, protective hold on his pseudo sister, until she was seated in an armchair. He allowed Ayako to squeeze in next to her, while he himself remained standing, leaning back against the far wall, arms crossed over his chest.

Lin had accepted the recorder without question, and had sat down to begin an analysis right away. "How long has this been recording?"

"Since I left yesterday," replied the girl, her voice still sounding too soft, causing Ayako to gently rub her arm in an attempt to comfort.

Lin merely nodded once, then tuned everyone else out as he went on with his analysis. Surprisingly, and perhaps it was because of the seriousness of the situation, but no one spoke as Lin did all this...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: My phone auto-corrects 'Naru' to 'Mary'! I had to edit that more than once when I caught them, and hopefully I didn't miss any. Regardless, I know this isn't the best of places to end the chapter, but I wasn't sure what else I wanted the recording to contain, other than the banging sound. Anyway, comments? Kudos?


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SPR always helps others deal with the paranormal. That's their job, after all. But what do they do when their client is Mai? Mai who works with them. Mai who loves them. Mai who was nearly killed in her own home. What exactly is she dealing with? Will the team be able to put their personal feelings aside to help her before the the evil entity can finally get to her...?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! In the original version of the previous chapter, I had asked for suggestions for what else may have been caught on the recording. So, despite this being a rewrite, I'd still like to thank those who did leave some ideas, because I mixed a few up, and kept them in this version as well. Anyway, thank you to all readers so far!

The Base was deathly silent as all within sat there, or in Bou-san's case, stood there, not saying a word. They had all been told about what Naru and Lin had heard, when the rest of them had been outside grabbing equipment, and we're eager to hear the sound themselves. It wasn't an everyday sort of noise, after all.

Mai, luckily, had a recorder running in her bedroom, which was just down the hall from the room where the mirror had broken, and the group was hoping the sound had been loud enough to be captured on it.

The Chinese man and his ward were quite sure that it had been. They had been able to feel the floor actually vibrate beneath their feet with the sound. Just to be sure though, Lin was analyzing the audio on the recorder anyway. It wasn't good to simply assume, after all.

Everyone stared when Lin's eyes, or rather, eye, suddenly widened. He pulled off his headphones, and got out of his seat, a look of surprise visible on his normally impassive face. Frowning, he looked up at the ceiling. The room above them was where the mirror sat, still shattered across the floor.

"Lin, what is it?" questioned Naru, approaching his guardian immediately. He knew there was something wrong, especially since Lin never normally acted like this.

"...More than just the sound of that mirror falling and shattering has been caught on this recorder," he said after a pause.

"Play it."

The Onmyouji complied, and everyone listened closely. They heard footsteps descending the stairs, and Mai's voice, faint in the distance, tagging it as herself. There was the sound of the door closing, and then silence.

"That was Mai-san leaving the house yesterday," explained Lin, before allowing the rest of the recording to play-enhanced ever so slightly.

Barely a minute had passed, before the footsteps began, faint at first, but becoming louder and louder with each passing second. It seemed that they had begun downstairs, and we're slowly approaching the recorder, which was sitting in Mai's bedroom upstairs. The footsteps stopped abruptly, and that was when the muttering started.

Multiple brows furrowed in clear confusion, as the team attempted to decipher what was being said. But they couldn't make the words out, no matter how much they focused; Lin would have to try again, in a moment.

The muttering, a voice that sounded like it belonged to a man, faded away. A moment later, the loud giggling of a young child filled the room, easily being captured by the recorder, even though it may not have originated from in the same room.

Lin now sped up the recording. "Nothing else occurred until the mirror." He reached the proper point, and hit play.

They could hear their team talking in the distance, the sound of them walking through the hall to head out to grab equipment, and then silence. Then there were footsteps again, starting off in the same room as the recorder, and heading over to the room with the mirror. Again, there was silence, and then there was the loud bang that reverberated throughout the entire second floor, along with the smattering of shattered glass.

Another silence followed, and then they heard more footsteps, that Lin claimed belonged to him. He was going up to check what had caused the loud sound.

"That is all," said the black haired man. "There is nothing else unexplained on this recorder."

Naru nodded in understanding, and he immediately pulled out his black notebook, in which he quickly began jotting down what he had heard and deduced, though what that might be, he didn't share with the others. Not that that was a surprise, or anything, knowing him the way he did. Naru never shared his ideas this early on in a case.

Bou-san, however, frowned. "So, there are  _two_  spirits in this house?" he questioned slowly, seemingly trying to get things straight in his head. "That first voice, the one that was muttering, that belonged to a grown man, judging by how deep it was. And that second one was very clearly a kid. Hard to tell if it was a boy or girl though."

Mai frowned, and looked down at the hand shaped bruise on her arm. "This doesn't look like it was made by a child," she said.

The others were quick to agree with that. The hand print was far too large to have been made by a mere child. Frowning, Naru added more notes, while Ayako took a good look at the bruise.

Yasuhara, who had been uncharacteristically silent thus far, suddenly spoke. "Hey John, didn't you say something to me about demons being children once?"

The monk, miko, and brown haired girl all looked at John in alarm. Lin and Naru simply exchanged a glance, before the latter waved at the the priest to explain further. Clearly he and Lin already knew this.

With no other clear option, John did so. "While child spirits are common," he began, "there have been times where demons have actually taken the form of, and mimicked children."

Bou-san frowned. "Why would they do that?" he asked, evidently curious.

"People are generally less wary around the spirits of children," the blond priest explained. "Demons often take advantage of that, and mimic something that is, in a sense, pure and innocent."

Ayako nodded in understanding. "And what's more innocent than a little kid?"

"Exactly," John inclined his head. "A person will think the entity is a child, and they will open themselves to it, make themselves vulnerable towards it. Of course, that is what the demon will be wishing for."

Looking a little frightened, and quite pale, Mai asked, "So what happens when a person completely opens up to this child mimicking demon?"

"It attacks."

Mai's eyes widened. "I-is that what's going to happen to me?"

"No."

Surprised, everyone, including Lin, looked over at Naru who had spoken with such conviction that it was actually startling. The others exchanged uncertain glances.

"While a possibility, we haven't yet proven anything," said the boss. "There could be two spirits here, a child and a grown man, and there could be one, that is presenting itself as two. The attacks show that the male entity is dangerous, but we know nothing of the child yet, if it really is a child. We need more evidence."

The group nodded, but a few of them still looked unsure, particularly Mai, who was staring at her bruised arm again, no doubt wondering whether the injury had been made by something as terrifying as a demonic entity. They were all praying it wasn't.

"Is there a way to tell whether you're being haunted by a demon and not just some random negative  _human_  spirit?" wondered Yasuhara and Bou-san in unison. They exchanged a glance, the former mischievous, and the latter seeming a tad creeped out.

John nodded once again, a look of amusement flashing over his face at the way the two had spoken. "There is a way, yes. It isn't exactly full proof, but nonetheless," he shrugged slightly. "You see, demons usually never simply 'go for the attack', as they say. They usually act in a specific order, or fashion, of you will. Oppression, obsession, possession."

Seeing they didn't seem to understand, he made to go on, but was abruptly cut off when Mai, out of nowhere, screamed and collapsed, slumping against Yasuhara, who was closest to her at the present time.

When everyone looked over in confused alarm, the older teen paled, eyes wide behind his glasses. "Guys, she's bleeding!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry about John's explanation-it'll be continued later on. I've finished editing what I had posted so far, so those three chapters should be put up over the next few days. Anyway, comments? Kudos?


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SPR always helps others deal with the paranormal. That's their job, after all. But what do they do when their client is Mai? Mai who works with them. Mai who loves them. Mai who was nearly killed in her own home. What exactly is she dealing with? Will the team be able to put their personal feelings aside to help her before the the evil entity can finally get to her...?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! Thank you to all readers so far!

_Mai woke abruptly in pure darkness. Feeling extremely groggy, she peered around, and it took her barely a moment to realize that she was in the Astral Plane. She blinked, almost owlishly in confusion, as she tried to recall what had just happened. She couldn't remember going to bed, as she generally did before she ended up here._

_"You were attacked," sounded a sudden voice._

_Head snapping up, Mai saw her friend, Eugene Davis, hovering over her, concern visible on his face. He held out a hand for her to take, and when she did, he pulled her to her feet effortlessly. Only once she was steady, did the girl speak._

_"Attacked?" she repeated, cocking her head._

_Gene frowned. "You don't remember?"_

_Mai shook her head, and thought back. It took a minute or two, but she quickly remembered. Startled, she twisted around on the spot, in an attempt to see her back._

_The joint between her shoulder blades, she recalled, had burned severely, and she was sure she had cried out in pain, but she had passed out before she had even known what was happening. It had hurt so bad at the time, but-but why couldn't she feel it now?_

_Gene seemed to know what she was thinking. "There is no pain in this realm, Mai."_

_The girl looked up at her companion in surprise. "No pain? But..." she frowned, "I know I've felt pain here before."_

_Eugene smiled sadly, clearly not liking the thought of her being in pain in general. "What you've felt is spiritual pain," he explained. "Pain inflicted upon you while you are already in this realm. Pain from the normal, human realm, cannot be felt here. That is why you can't feel what just happened to you."_

_"Oh." Mai supposed that made sense. She frowned again, and looked around in the darkness. "Why did you bring me here so suddenly? Did you figure something out?"_

_"Yes, but that's not why I brought you here," replied Gene solemnly. "You were just attacked, Mai, and that attack would have been far worse, had I not just called you here."_

_Oh, so he had saved her, then, in a sense. She believed him when he said the attack would have been worse-they generally were. She had been attacked in that house more than once. "Um, thank you for helping me."_

_"Any time, Mai... Though I wish you didn't have to feel so much pain."_

_The brown haired girl shrugged somewhat awkwardly. "It sucks, but we help people, don't we? I'd say it's worth it, in that case."_

_Gene couldn't help but smile gently. "Always thinking of others, aren't you, Mai? Yes, I can see why Noll is so attached to you."_

_Mai stared. "What?" she questioned. "Naru? Attached? What do you mea-?"_

_But the boy cut her off part way, trying to conceal his amusement. "There was something I wanted to explain to you, about your last visit here."_

_Mai glared when she was cut off, but when the look went ignored, she huffed, and said, "Is this about the 'scene' that faded away?"_

_Nodding, Gene explained. "The entity that you're dealing with in that house of yours, was what prevented us from completing the viewing of that...'scene', as you put it."_

_Mai nodded to show she was listening, and Eugene went on._

_"I think what this means, is that either that room, or the people we saw in it, are somehow related to what has been happening to you. There is no other reason for why we were stopped from seeing a scene with something as innocent as potential renters looking at a house."_

_It took Mai a moment to understand what that meant. Her brow furrowed. "So...unless there's something wrong with my living room, either Ayako, or her friends have something to do with all this?"_

_The dead teen inclined his head. "I know Noll already questioned Matsuzaki-san about the house, but you should ask her about those friends of hers-the ones who lived in the house before you."_

_"Because they were the ones in the scene?"_

_"That, and because, even if they didn't have anything to do with this, they did once live there. Perhaps they themselves experienced something otherworldly?"_

_When Mai agreed, they exchanged parting words, and the girl returned to her living body-_

-and jolted awake at the sudden Sting of pain.

"Ohh, oh that burns."

"Careful, Mai. Give me a second here."

"Ayako?"

"Who else?" came the haughty voice from behind her. "You got scratched up pretty bad, Mai, and then you passed out," the doctor explained patiently. "The wounds are a little deep, so I want to clean them before bandaging them up. You won't need stitches, luckily."

"Oh." Mai glanced around as much as was possible from her current position, and found herself laying on her bed in her bedroom. Someone must have carried her in there after she had passed out.

There was a silence, that was broken only when Mai hissed at the sting of her wounds being cleaned.

"Do you know why you feel unconscious?" wondered the doctor a moment later. "Did Gene call you or something?"

"He did, actually." Unsure of how to voice what it was that she was thinking, Mai paused, and hesitated. "Listen, Ayako...unless something was already in this house, Gene thinks those friends you rented the place out to, may have something to do with this...spirit." Mai knew she was being very direct here, but she really wasn't sure of how else to phrase what she had just learned.

The woman seemed to freeze. "Mitsuki and Kenta? No, no-they shouldn't be involved in anything bad like this at all," she said, a touch of emotion audible in her voice. "They're both good people, newly wed and eager to start their own family."

Mai frowned, unseen by the miko. "D'you think something was attached to them before, and followed them here? And maybe it decided to just stay after they left?"

"That is possible," came a voice from the doorway.

Mai turned her head, which had been resting on her folded arms, and saw Naru leaning against the door frame. The girl's face flushed, and she wondered how long he had been standing there. Ayako seemed to have taken her shirt off to clean the wounds, and though she still had her bra on at least, it was still a bit awkward. Not that Naru could see anything except her back really.

"You think?" wondered Mai instead, hoping her cheeks weren't obviously pink.

Naru stepped into the room with a nod, and approached the bed. "This entity, or entities, shouldn't have had any way to attach itself to you. We haven't had any cases with activity matching what's happened to you lately, and considering you began experiencing all this at least six months ago, it couldn't possibly have occurred during a case, since SPR was closed at the time, and there were no cases in the first place."

Finishing the bandaging of the wounds, Ayako straightened up. "You can pull your shirt on now, Mai. Avoid getting those bandages wet for the next couple of days, and it should heal just fine." She then turned her attention to the young boss, a frown marring her face. "So you think that the only logical explanation is that whatever has been attacking Mai, was already in this house when she moved in?"

"Yes," replied Naru with an incline of his head. "And if the entity has nothing to do with the property itself, then it is very likely that those friends of yours, Matsuzaki-san, either already had something after them, or were involved with something they certainly shouldn't have been..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently I had an English assignment I'd been procrastinating on when I originally wrote this chapter, so if it seems at all slow, that's probably why-the assignment was due mere hours after I'd posted this, and I hadn't even started on it yet. Anyway, comments? Kudos?


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SPR always helps others deal with the paranormal. That's their job, after all. But what do they do when their client is Mai? Mai who works with them. Mai who loves them. Mai who was nearly killed in her own home. What exactly is she dealing with? Will the team be able to put their personal feelings aside to help her before the the evil entity can finally get to her...?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! Just one more chapter left before I catch up to where I am on FFN. Thank you to all readers so far!

Ayako's frown only deepened when she heard this, but she didn't speak, even though the other two in the room were fully aware she was considering what her friends could possibly have done to have brought this...this dark entity forward.

Mai kept quiet too, and looked between her boss and the miko, and pulled her shirt back over her head, wincing at the sharp stinging pull of the now bandaged wound between her shoulder blades.

It didn't take much longer for Ayako to speak. "So, what? You want me to call up my friends and ask them if they've been-been messing around with spirits?" she questioned, clearly not pleased at the prospect.

If Naru had been anyone else, he would have rolled his eyes. "Just start off by asking them whether they experienced anything they can't explain while they lived in this house. Progress from there."

It was Mai, however, who frowned, a thought coming to her. "What if they lie?"

"They wouldn't do that!" Ayako protested immediately and vehemently.

"We will just have to give them the benefit of doubt," Naru replied with a rather careless shrug. "If they do say no, and we find no other leads, then I'll have no choice but to speak to them myself." His eyes landed on Ayako now. "Go make that phone call, Matsuzaki-san."

When the woman, grumbling and muttering under her breath, left the room, Naru moved in, sat down on the edge of Mai's bed, and focused his attention on her now. "Gene called you?" he inquired.

"Un," Mai nodded, turning slightly so she could look at him properly.

"What did he say?"

"Remember that first dream I had? The one where the image got all fuzzy and vanished? Well..." And she recounted her most recent 'dream', glad that she could actually see her crush's face, see his expression this time. She wanted to be able to see them, the expressions, the reactions, and judge if they were the same as the night before.

Naru didn't seem to be out of focus today though, and the girl wondered what had been wrong with him last night. Maybe it was because she had woken him up the previous time. It seemed to make the most sense to her, especially since she knew all too well how out of it you could be after being woken up so suddenly.

When Mai finished explaining, Naru raised his fingers up to his chin as he fell into thought. "Yes, I can see why Gene came to the conclusion that he did," he said both slowly and softly, as if he were speaking to himself. "Considering Matsuzaki-san never experienced anything while she lived here herself, I believe it's safe to say she has nothing to do with this, and it's also very likely that it isn't the property itself."

The girl responded now too, equally absently. "Right, cause if it was, then Ayako probably would've noticed something. She  _is_  a miko, after all."

"Exactly," Naru replied, still sounding rather absent, despite the response. Neither of them even seemed to realize they were having a discussion, so lost in their own thoughts that they were. "That only leaves her friends, the couple who lived here previously..." He got to his feet suddenly. "Come, Mai, let's return to the Base."

Mai blinked at the abruptness, but nodded and got out of the bed. Together, she and Naru left her seemingly peaceful room, and descended down the stairs, making their way to where the others were.

Moments after the two had seated themselves, Ayako entered the room as well, but before she could even open her mouth, Yasuhara spoke.

"John, you never finished explaining that whole demon-kid thing," he said.

The priest seemed momentarily confused, and had to think back to remember what the bespectacled teen was even talking about. Mai being attacked had caused him to lose his train of thought in worry. "Oh, that's right," he said as he suddenly remembered. "I was saying that demons often take the form of children in order to catch people off guard, because children are generally considered innocent."

"Yeah, you said people open themselves up more to child spirits," added Bou-san, "and that that's when they attack."

"Yes, and I was about to explain the oppression, obsession, possession, I believe?"

Mai, who was now beginning to recall the conversation they had been having before her attack, nodded, and glanced over at Naru and Lin, who seemed to be focused on something else. Since it was very likely that they already knew this, that made sense to her. She focused on John, wanting to know what this whole thing was about, especially if it could explain whether or not she was being haunted by a demon-what a terrifying thought.

John began his explanation, and everyone sat in silence, soaking in his words. "Demonic oppression is essentially when you are being harassed, disturbed, or tormented by demons. You feel weighed down both physically and psychologically. You could feel depressed, anxious, bitter, angry, unforgiving, discouraged, even shameful. Many negative emotions can be felt during this time.

"Demonic obsession is having a persistent, sometimes disturbing and dominating action or influence of an often unreasonable and unnatural feeling that you can't escape. In simple terms, the demon is entering your life and is causing you to preoccupy yourself with specific ideas, emotions, attitudes, or actions. You are focusing on things that you would not normally focus on, feeling, thinking, doing things that you never would otherwise.

"Finally, we have demonic possession. This is, as you should already know, when your body is taken over by the demonic entity that has been causing your oppression and obsession. While there are others, these...steps are the most common ones."

When John fell silent, Mai frowned.  _That's strange. I've been feeling so many of the emotions John just mentioned. That's why I didn't want to tell the others about what was happening. I felt-feel_..."-even shameful-" echoed John's voice in her mind.  _Yes, I guess shameful would be the right word. I'm always the one who needs to be saved. Even though they taught me to help myself, I still can't do it. John also said you could feel weighed down, but-but I've been feeling that too! Does that mean I'm suffering from demonic oppression_?

"-ai? Mai?"

The girl blinked and focused on Naru's eyes, which she was surprised to see looked almost... concerned?

"What is it?" he asked. "Are you feeling something?"

"N-no, it's just..." How could she even  _voice_  what she was thinking? What if she was wrong and she worried them all for nothing? Demons were a big deal, but what if it was just some  _human_  spirit? She didn't want everyone freaking out over nothing. It would be a waste of time for all of them.

"It's just what?" questioned Naru, eyes narrowed rather dangerously. Clearly he knew she was hiding something, and was likely very close to demanding an answer from her.

But despite knowing this, Mai continued to hesitate. There was that little voice in the back of her mind, telling her how worthless she was for always needing help, and never being able to do anything for herself. The voice definitely didn't sound like her own, being far deeper, far more sinister, though she didn't really even notice it.

Concealing her hesitation, she brought a smile to her face instead. "Really, it's nothing. I just zoned out is all."

The group exchanged odd looks and shrugs, but no one said anything, which Mai was grateful for. Naru continued to stare at her for a moment longer, but he didn't say anything either. Mai knew she was worrying everybody, she knew it and she hated it, but she was too scared to bring up what was really on her mind.

There were just...too many 'what ifs'.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope John's explanation made sense to you all. If it didn't, just ask and I'll try to clarify. Comments? Kudos?


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SPR always helps others deal with the paranormal. That's their job, after all. But what do they do when their client is Mai? Mai who works with them. Mai who loves them. Mai who was nearly killed in her own home. What exactly is she dealing with? Will the team be able to put their personal feelings aside to help her before the the evil entity can finally get to her...?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! This is the last chapter I needed to edit and post here in this site, which means I've caught up to where I am on FFN, which in turn means I can finally continue writing this thing properly! So, if you're reading this after August 10, 2017, you don't have to worry about any of this. Anyway, thank you to all readers so far!

Naru was irritated. Mai was hiding something, and no amount of prodding was getting her to reveal what it was. She kept saying that she had merely zoned out, and refused to tell them the truth. He knew she was lying. He recognized those reactions, that subtle behaviour change. Besides, he had seen the sudden fear that had come into her eyes.

He glanced up at her now, finding that she was chatting cheerily with Yasuhara. Despite the casualness of her tone, he could see she was still a little frightened.

Why wasn't she telling them that then? It wasn't as if they were going to mock her for it. Why would they? Fear was something they had to deal with on a near daily basis. If there was anything they would poke fun at, it surely wouldn't be the feeling of fear.

For that matter, why had it taken Mai six  _months_  to inform them of what she had been going through? He and Lin hadn't been in the country, but she could easily have gone to Bou-san, Ayako, or John. With them being a monk, miko, and priest respectively, they could have nipped this in the bud before it had gotten any worse.

But it was too late now. Far too late. She had waited for too long, and it had resulted in her life nearly being taken from her, more than once, at that. The entity, or entities, were getting stronger, and no one of them would be able to take care of it themselves on their own.

And knowing that, was terrifying in itself.

Needing to plan, but unsure of what he was dealing with, Naru instructed Lin and Yasuhara to begin researching the property, along with any former homeowners, and not just Ayako or her friends.

Yasuhara left with a cheerful goodbye, heading for the local library, while Lin began typing away rapidly, already hard at work, which certainly wasn't surprising, considering who he was. Naru now turned his attention to the rest, examining his younger assistant, the priest, monk, and miko, all of whom were peering back at him curiously, wondering what he was going to make them do.

"Mai, Takigawa-san, take the *MEL meter and note down base *EMF and temperature readings throughout the house. I want a comparison. Matsuzaki-san, John, do a preliminary walkthrough, note anything odd such as slanted floors, creaky stairs, leaky faucets, along with any spiritual related sensations you may come across. I'll take care of this room and the hall here myself."

All four nodded, and without hesitation, gathered their required equipment or items, and headed out to do as told, splitting up on the landing by the stairs, two of them heading one way, the other two up the stairs.

Deciding to work their way from the front of the house to the back, Mai and Bou-san headed for the entrance, Mai with the MEL meter, and Bou-san with the clipboard, since he didn't really have much know-how on the equipment used by the boss.

The two of them slowly made their way through the house, the girl telling the man what the meter was saying, and the monk noting it all down. The two didn't talk much though, aside from their work. Mai was too caught up her in fear and apprehension, and Bou-san was too busy being worried about her to hold up a proper conversation.

While it was practically a given that the young sensitive would end up targeted at some point or another during their cases, it was another thing entirely for her to be the main focal point of the situation. They had never had to help one another like this before, and it was a new, shocking, humbling thing for them all, even for those who would never admit it.

"H-hey, Bou-san?"

"Hmm? What's up, Jou-chan?" he asked curiously, concerned about the girl's hesitant tone of voice.

"Do you...feel like you're...being watched?"

He blinked. "What? Like, right now?"

Mai nodded. "I feel like someone's staring at me. Really intensely."

The man looked around. "Are you sure it isn't the camera?" he asked, jerking a thumb at the one in the corner. "Lin-san and Naru-bou are probably watching."

"No, it definitely isn't that," Mai replied with a shake of her head. "I've been on lots of cases now, so I'm used to that. I just ignore it. This is...this is different. It's uh-really uncomfortable."

"What about the meter? Has the base reading changed? Or the temperature?"

The brown haired girl looked down at the meter she was tightly clutching in her hand. "Um, the EMF is still at a point two, but...oh, the temperature's down four degrees. Could just be cause we're by the back door now though."

Bou-san noted it down regardless. "I don't feel like I'm being watched, but if you are, it's definitely worth mentioning to Naru. He'll want to know."

Sighing, the girl nodded. "Right."

The two continued working, but when they passed Ayako and John on the stairs, heading up while the other two made their way down, Mai, despite remaining silent unless she was reading off the MEL meter, only felt the feeling of being watched get even worse. It got so bad, that suddenly, the meter slipped from her grasp. Luckily, she'd been standing over her bed, so it landed safely, bouncing once before going still, and not falling off the edge-thank goodness for that.

"Mai?" Bou-san moved in close, worry visible in his eyes.

"Ah..." The girl raised her hands, which were trembling visibly. She clenched them tightly, but the shaking wouldn't stop, not even when the monk took her hands in his own larger ones. They felt so warm against her own. She was freezing cold.

"Hey, hey, it's alright, Mai. You're okay." He rubbed her hands, concerned because they felt ice cold. He picked up the MEL meter, curious to see whether the temperature was different around her, than it was him, and the little numbers below the larger ones displaying the point two EMF, confirmed that. He quickly jotted that down, before drawing her in close again, rubbing her arms and hands.

"It's still watching me," Mai stated, her voice muffled in the clothed chest she was pressed against. "I can feel him staring."

Eyes narrowed, Bou-san looked around the room, checking all four corners before releasing the girl, getting to his feet, and checking the closet and even under the bed. There was no one there. But even though he wasn't getting any odd feelings himself, he didn't want to say Mai was just being paranoid or something. Her feelings on their cases were often sharper than their own. "Come on, this was the last room anyway. Let's just finish things and get back to the Base, okay?"

With wide, fearful eyes, Mai nodded and, her hands still shaking, took of the MEL meter once more. "Okay, here-here by the closet, it's at a point one, the temperature's the same as the rest of the room. Point six over here, but there's a plug point right below, and the temp is..."

The two continued in this way, completing their work before leaving the room and making their way back down the hall, Bou-san walking behind Mai. As the two reached the stairs to head back down, the monk stretched his arms up above his head, his eyes falling shut as he yawned tiredly, wishing for some coffee. Mai reached out a hand to grasp the railing instinctively, and at that same moment, a large, cold hand clamped down around her wrist, and tugged her forward harshly.

"A-ah!"

Bou-san's eyes shot open, his yawn cutting off mid way. "Mai!" He reached out desperately.

But Mai was falling, falling, falling, and all she saw were eerie crimson eyes leering at her, and a grinning mouth full of sharp, gleaming fangs.

"Mai! MAI!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *EMF stands for Electro Magnetic Field, but are higher around things that naturally give off electricity, like fuse boxes. EMF spikes are known to occur around spirits. Abnormally high EMF can lead to things like headaches, nausea, and paranoia, among other things, and can often either confirm or debunk spiritual phenomenon.
> 
> *MEL Meters take and show both EMF and temperature readings.
> 
> Anyway, comments? Kudos?


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SPR always helps others deal with the paranormal. That's their job, after all. But what do they do when their client is Mai? Mai who works with them. Mai who loves them. Mai who was nearly killed in her own home. What exactly is she dealing with? Will the team be able to put their personal feelings aside to help her before the the evil entity can finally get to her...?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! I'm sorry about the wait guys. Thank you to all readers so far!

Mai grasped Bou-san's arms around her as she panted heavily, sweat beaded on her brow, her entire body shaking. Bou-san was in the exact same position as her, gripping her tightly as if afraid she'd be torn out of his arms.

Both of them sat crumpled on the stairs, the stairs Mai had nearly fallen down. It had been pure luck the monk had reacted fast enough, extending his long arms to grab hold of the back of the girl's shirt, only just managing to yank her back towards him.

And now they just sat there, beyond shaken. Naru and Lin both rushed up the stairs towards them, actually displaying concern for once. They lowered down on the steps as well.

"What happened?" Naru demanded to know, fists clenched, fighting to refrain from reaching out and grabbing the girl.

"That's what I'd like to know," said Bou-san faintly, his heart still thumping. He raised a hand to brush his hair back, only to notice that his hand was shaking. He wasn't surprised.

Mai, leaning back against the monk, caught her breath, and finally looked up. "It tried to pull me down the stairs," she explained. "It grabbed me by the wrist," she brought her right arm up, "and pulled me forward."

"Are you sure it wasn't Bou-san?" questioned Naru, eyes narrowed. He didn't want to blame the man, of course, but it was always a possibility, and accidents happen all the time, so it was certainly something to consider.

"My hands were nowhere near her!"

Mai nodded in agreement. "He was behind me-I know that for sure. I was definitely  _pulled_ not pushed."

"We have a camera positioned at the bottom of the stairs," said Lin, "facing upwards. We will have caught the incident on tape."

"Review it." Naru turned back to the girl. "Can you stand?"

Since Bou-san couldn't get up until Mai herself did, she accepted Naru's offered hand and was carefully pulled to her feet and helped down the stairs. It was probably pure luck that she hadn't gotten hurt. The four returned to the Base, where they met up with a concerned Ayako and John, who had been waiting for them, unaware of what had happened.

While Lin went straight to the monitors to review the footage of the stairs, and Naru made some notes in his black notebook, Mai and Bou-san explained things to the other two, who were more than a little horrified. Had this been yet another attempt on the girl's life? One right in front of a monk, no less? That was a bold move on the part of the entity, if it truly hadn't been an accident.

"Noll."

The group, Naru in front, gathered around the tech, who tapped at a few keys before indicating one of the monitors and hitting play. They watched as Mai appeared on screen first, quickly followed by Bou-san, who yawned, stretching his arms up over his head. And it was at this moment, when the monk's arms were in the air and nowhere near Mai, that the girl suddenly fell forward. They saw her eyes widen, heard, over the camera mic's audio, her cry out, and half a second later, heard Bou-san call out her name, reach out, and just barely manage to snag her by the back of her shirt, yanking her back against him where they both collapsed on the stairs.

"Slow it down."

Lin inclined his head and did so, hitting a few more keys, before playing it, the video slowing down and zooming in a little closer so they could say things a bit better, though maybe not totally clearer.

Mai definitely hadn't been pushed. Bou-san's hands were definitely nowhere near her, neither were his legs or any other part of his body, seeing as he was still at the top of the stairs while Mai was already two steps down. Mai didn't trip either. Her bare feet didn't slip or get caught on anything, not even on the opposite foot. Actually, as they watched closer, it looked to them as if Mai had been...jerked forward, by the arm she was holding out, no less. How strange.

Naru's eyes narrowed, and as Lin checked for other anomalies, the young boss turned to Mai. "Did you sense anything?"

"When I fell?"

"Yes."

Mai blinked. "I don't... I mean, it all happened really fast." She bit her lip, brow furrowing in thought. "I'm pretty sure I didn't hear anything, or even sense, but I think I saw a face."

"A face? Can you describe it?"

The girl lowered down into a seat, clearly thinking back. "Eyes, red eyes. And fangs. A mouthful of sharp fangs." She looked up at Naru. "That's all I really remember. Like I said, it all happened so fast, I wasn't really paying attention to anything other than that I was falling, and then save from falling."

"Which means you're saying it's possible you may not have seen that at all."

"Basically, yeah."

And that made sense too, they all understood. The moment where all this had happened had been so sudden, so charged with shock and fear and danger, that it was entirely possible that Mai had simply thought she was seeing something that wasn't actually there at all.

There are plenty of things that can happen in the heat of the moment that can turn out to be entirely different once later analyzed.

"Think on it, Mai," Naru told her. "Focus on what happened, what you sensed when you and Takigawa-san approached the stairs, then when you were on the stairs and falling, and then in the moments directly after."

Mai seemed somewhat startled by the request, but nodded hesitantly. This was something they sometimes asked clients to do after they were attacked, but she hadn't ever done it herself. She leaned back in her seat, closed her eyes, and breathed slowly, trying to do as Naru had said, trying to focus.

Mai thought hard and long about everything she had been feeling while she'd been upstairs. Disturbed, that was for sure, she thought. She could remember that she had told Bou-san she felt like she was being watched while they'd been collecting readings in her room. And that feeling hadn't disappeared even after they had left her bedroom.

She had felt the same thing as they had finished and been approaching the stairs, intending on heading down and returning to the Base, since they'd finished what Naru had asked (demanded) them to do.

The feeling had gotten worse the closer they got to the staircase, but since they were supposed to be going back to the Base, Mai had figured there was no point of bringing it up now, if she was going to have to explain it all again in just a moment.

And then she had reached for the banister, just as she always did while heading up or down any flight of stairs. Cold. She could remember feeling very cold all of a sudden. And she hadn't even been able to touch the banister before she the big, cold hand had clamped down around her wrist and pulled her forward, at which point she had thought she'd seen that face as she'd been falling.

Yes, she was sure that was what had happened, what she had felt-sensed, but that was it. Was this what Naru was looking for? What would it explain? Well, she didn't have the answers to those questions, but perhaps her boss would. So she opened her eyes again, almost immediately drawing Naru's attention (had he been watching her this entire time?), soon followed by the others.

"Mai?"

The girl voiced everything she had thought of a moment ago, still curious to know how exactly this was going to help the situation. Once again, Naru listened to her in silence, his eyes on hers, waiting until she had finished before he spoke himself.

"You felt cold?" he questioned.

Mai nodded. "Yeah. Really cold. And the hand felt like ice."

Naru turned to Bou-san. "You were right behind her. Did you feel cold as well?"

The monk frowned in thought, then slowly shook his head. "No, I don't think I did."

"Think or know?"

"I'm pretty sure I didn't feel cold at all. Just tired." He hesitated, thinking, then inclined his head. "Yeah, I'm positive I didn't feel any sort of chill-not even a breeze. I was probably sweating, actually."

Naru nodded, then turned his attention to Lin. "Have we caught any temperature drops to corroborate what Mai felt?"

"We have not. There is nothing set up near the stairs that can do so."

The young boss hummed in thought. "How many thermals did we bring with us?"

"Three. We still have one that is not being used."

"Then we'll set that one up at the foot of the stairs with the other camera. Takigawa-san?"

Bou-san nodded. "I've got it. It's in the van, right?" When he got a confirming answer, he left the room.

Mai blinked. "Wait, when were all the cameras and mics set up anyway?" she asked in wonder. She certainly hadn't helped do it, that was for sure.

"After your attack," Ayako replied. "They took care of it while you were unconscious and I was dealing with your wounds."

"Oh." It was kind of odd, Mai thought, to have not helped do that. She always did, mainly because Naru demanded it of her, saying it was part of her job. She supposed it was, but still, she couldn't help but feel guilty for not having helped...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *I kept accidentally writing Naruto instead of Naru... Anyway that's it for now. I have absolutely no idea when the next chapter will be up, but I truly hope it won't be a year from now. Comments? Kudos?


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